Daniel P. Kelly, M.D., Professor and Scientific Director Burnham Institute for Medical Research at Lake Nona (Burnham) was awarded the American Heart Association’s (AHA) 2009 Basic Research Prize at yesterday’s Scientific Session in Orlando, Fl. The prize recognizes Dr. Kelly as an international authority on the molecular biology and physiology of cardiac metabolism and as a physician-scientist who projects a vision of how basic research can translate into clinically beneficial treatments.

In presenting the award, Clyde W. Yancy, M.D., president of the AHA said, “Dr. Kelly is a genuinely gifted scientist and he is showing, brilliantly, how basic research can move seamlessly from the bench to the bedside, to the enormous benefit of all.”

Dr. Kelly’s research interests focus on derangements in cardiac energy metabolism which contribute to heart failure and sudden death caused by hypertension, heart attacks or diabetes. His work defines the gene regulatory mechanisms involved in the control of cardiac fuel and energy metabolism. Dr. Kelly’s groundbreaking investigations describe metabolism in the normal and diseased heart and the impact of obesity and diabetes on cardiac function. His pioneering work in fuel and energy metabolism is defining new classes of drug targets and sets the stage for more personalized therapies.

Dr. Kelly is leading the development of translational research programs at Burnham’s Diabetes and Obesity Research Center, located at the newly dedicated east-coast campus in Lake Nona. There, he is developing visionary, multi-disciplinary translational research strategies to accelerate the application of scientific investigations to patient care. In a relatively short amount of time, Dr. Kelly has assembled a faculty of highly-regarded scientists and established partnerships with clinical researchers in hospital and university institutions, bringing together teams of basic and outcome-oriented clinical researchers to study diabetes, obesity and cardiac complications.

He is the author of more than 100 peer-reviewed research articles and his peers regard him as having “written the book” on the molecular basis for metabolic disturbances relevant to common diseases such as heart failure, diabetes and the diabetic heart. Dr. Kelly has received numerous honors, including the 2008 Distinguished Achievement Award from the AHA’s Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences. He is an Established Investigator of the AHA, and an Outstanding Investigator of the American Federation of Clinical research and has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Prior to joining Burnham, Dr. Kelly held the Tobias and Hortense Lewin Professorship at Washington University and served as Chief of the Cardiovascular Division at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.

About Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute is dedicated to discovering the fundamental molecular causes of disease and devising the innovative therapies of tomorrow. Sanford-Burnham takes a collaborative approach to medical research with major programs in cancer, neurodegeneration and stem cells, diabetes, and infectious, inflammatory, and childhood diseases. The Institute is recognized for its National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center and expertise in drug discovery technologies. Sanford-Burnham is a nonprofit, independent institute that employs more than 1,000 scientists and staff in San Diego (La Jolla), Calif., and Orlando (Lake Nona), Fla. For more information, visit us at sanfordburnham.org.